The Netherlands and the United States are both on the short list of teams expected to well in this event, but after Day 1, neither country was in the Top 5. Now their National Champions must square off in a match that will set the tone for the rest of the event.

Tom van de Logt won last year's Worlds, and Eugene Harvey finished in the Top 16 and help the US take the team title, so neither are strangers to this level of competition.

In the draft, Tom cut Eugene off from blue, a situation that Eugene complicated by counterdrafting red cards when it looked like van de Logt might switch. Neither deck is amazing, so the match may come down to who can make the best use of his mediocre cards.